Moving home

[Robesco]

Hi, Back on this site after a while. I CCA's all my debts about 18 months ago and stopped my 10 year plus DMP with StepChange in December 2019 (thanks to AAD). It's been a relatively quiet 15 months with most of my alleged creditors sending a series of very polite requests to pay them, offering discounts, please get in touch, all of which I have ignored. My question is, I'm now moving home. Do I inform Cabot, Moorcroft et al of my new address or just redirect my post and wait for them work it out on their own?

Also in relation to moving, all my debts defaulted and fell off my credit record years ago and my credit score was doing really well, however a couple of creditors have been doing hard debt searches just recently which has killed my score and made it difficult to pass the credit checks associated with renting a house? I have to leave my current home as the landlord is selling the house and have no choice to find somewhere new but I've been turned down by lettings agencies because of the bad credit rating. Can they do this on debts that are UE and have fallen off my record?

I have a few other questions related to specific companies but I'll put them in debt diaries.

Many thanks. Rob

[Warwick65]

There is an argument that says UE debts should not be reported on your credit file - it is an extension of a binding ruling.

I think Niddy might be able to help on that
Never-In-Doubt

The case was Grace v Blackhorse
https://www.mortgagefinancegazette.c...le-10-11-2014/

I think this is what a brilliant Barrister who represented me was - so if they are searching for debts where the agreement is either irredeemably unenforceable or even UE because they can not find the agreement I think you could contact the CRA and ask them to remove the search - but don't take my word for it

[PlanB]

in relation to moving, all my debts defaulted and fell off my credit record years ago and my credit score was doing really well, however a couple of creditors have been doing hard debt searches just recently which has killed my score and made it difficult to pass the credit checks associated with renting a house? I have to leave my current home as the landlord is selling the house and have no choice to find somewhere new but I've been turned down by lettings agencies because of the bad credit rating. Can they do this on debts that are UE and have fallen off my record?

Are you certain it's the Searches on your CRA file which have caused you to be rejected by a lettings agent, or could it be something else impacting on your credit score?

How soon is the Landlord selling the house and has he served you with a valid Section 21 Notice if you are on an AST? At the moment the minimum time for seeking possession of a property is 10 months (a s21 is 6 months notice of seeking possession, and then four months before that can take place).

In some circumstances the buyer will be happy to keep the tenants if they are an investor not intending to be an owner occupier.

I'll take a look at your other thread to see what stage you're at with your debts.

Di

[Joanna Connolly]

There is an argument that says UE debts should not be reported on your credit file - it is an extension of a binding ruling.

I think Niddy might be able to help on that
Never-In-Doubt

The case was Grace v Blackhorse
https://www.mortgagefinancegazette.c...le-10-11-2014/

I think this is what a brilliant Barrister who represented me was - so if they are searching for debts where the agreement is either irredeemably unenforceable or even UE because they can not find the agreement I think you could contact the CRA and ask them to remove the search - but don't take my word for it

This court of appeal judgment deals with irredeemably unenforceable credit agreements that have been either declared by a court to be irredeemably unenforceable OR a creditor has confirmed to you in writing that it is irredeemably unenforceable.

S.78 CCA requests that are not complied with make an agreement temporarily unenforceable. This means the unenforceability can be removed if the creditor provides further documentation that complies with the requirements of S.78 CCA. The issue as to whether a creditor can post negative data at the credit reference agencies while the agreement is temporarily unenforceable will need to be dealt with in either the High Court , Court of Appeal or Supreme Court for there to be a binding ruling which the credit reference agencies and creditors would have to take account of.

[Robesco]

Thanks for the replies, yes it has to be the hard searches hitting my credit score, all my debts were defaulted in 2009 and fell off years ago so there is little else on there that would have a significant and sudden negative impact.

Any ideas about part 1 of my question, if everything is temporarily unenforceable do I notify creditors I'm moving home and the new address or simply redirect my post. Thanks

[Never-In-Doubt]

If it was me I'd pay a years redirection. But in any case when they do a search they'll see the new linked address and update their records whether you give them it or not. So it could save you money not redirecting.

Entirely your call.

Regards them performing "debt" searches; they can do this *if* there's a genuine reason; for instance you aren't paying into a DMP etc (they do it to check if you own a home / take new credit etc) however if you are paying then they shouldn't be doing a debt search.

That said it doesn't show a search like that to lenders / landlord searches. All it'll do is show them the number. They receive aggregated data - not html friendly like you see online. So for instance it'll read like -

Searches (3-6 months) - 2
Searches (6-12 months) - 4
Total Accounts - 8
Total Facility - £25,500
Total Used - £2,550 (10%)

It doesn't list lender names or search types; only that a search was performed.

Essentially it won't be searches affecting you. They won't affect a rental in any shape or form - a rental is looking for bad repayment history only. The data they get is also extremely limited compared with a bank aggregated data.

The "score" you see is irrelevant and means nothing. Ignore it. The CRA is not a lender so they don't know the individual banks algorithms. It's a made up number based on the assumption they were a lender; which they aren't.